Count On Me
by Biscuit15
Summary: Sam is bullied at school. He doesn't want to anger or upset Dean by telling him, but when things go too far, what will happen when Dean finds out? Rating may change with future chapters
1. Chapter 1

"Can't I just stay home? It's not like we'll be here for long…"

Dean looked down at his little brother. To be honest, he was worried about Sam, the boy hadn't been himself since they started at their new school a week ago.

Dean shook his head. "You know you can't, Sam. Look, you said it yourself – we won't be here for much longer, alright? So whatever's worrying you will end soon enough."

The thirteen-year-old looked up at Dean with a frown on his face. Sam opened his mouth, about to say something, but quickly shut it; he didn't want to get Dean mad or upset –Sam was sure that the former would be more likely.

Instead, Sam nodded and walked into the school, looking down at the ground.

Dean wasn't sure what to do – he had tried and tried to pry information from his brother about what was wrong but Sam refused to talk, no matter what Dean did.

**-XX-**

Sam hesitated at his locker. No one had bothered him just yet – but that meant nothing. Sam's bullies were probably waiting for a more opportune time…

_Yeah… _Sam thought sadly. _…When they _know _for _sure _that no one will come along and find them… Maybe I should hit them… They can't beat me - I know that! …But then I'll be the one in trouble… Maybe I could say something? Scare them off? Would that really work? But then they'll pick on someone else… If they hit me again, maybe I should fight back – even if it's only defensively…._

Sam waited for a few more minutes before he opened his locker, still trying to work out a strategy. It was quiet, and Sam had been uninterrupted as he put his bag into the locker and pulled out everything that he would need. It looked like that morning would be without incident until – _bam!_

Sam cried out in pain as his locker's door was slammed upon his hand. Out of pure instinct, Sam pulled his hand free and threw a punch at whoever – or _what_ever had harmed him. He looked up at his main bully, a fat kid with anger issues and long, black, greasy hair. Sam knew that his name was Ross and he was a few years older than Sam himself – but Sam wasn't sure on exactly how old he was. The Winchester was just glad to see that he had connected with the older male in the face – though Ross didn't seem too phased.

"Good to see you back at school, Winchester," sneered Ross, "thought that you weren't going to be coming back after yesterday – you didn't seem to handle being pantsed in front of everyone well."

Sam flinched slightly at the mention of yesterday, but otherwise remained silent.

"Hey, don't ignore me, Winchester!" Ross shouted. He tried to shove Sam backwards into the lockers, but he missed when Sam ducked and moved to the side, getting into a defensive position. "Don't you want me to hit you around, again? I swear to god that I'll knock your teeth out this time!"

"…" Sam lowered his head. As much as he hated this treatment, he didn't want to cause any harm to Ross. "I don't want to fight, Ross. Please leave me alone."

"You're a pussy! You're weak!"

"If you're so strong, then go pick on another boy your own age and size."

Ross whistled in excitement. "Oh, my God – Winchester actually stood up for himself!"

Sam rolled his eyes, turning to leave, but he didn't get very far before he hit the ground. Ross had kicked the younger's leg out from underneath him.

Sam bit his lip; his wrist was burning, throbbing in pain. He watched as Ross opened his locker and pulled the brown-haired boy's things out from it. He stood up and took a few steps backwards, putting distance between himself and Ross. He felt anger boil up inside of him, but he bit his tongue. He had already decided that the next time Ross dared to lay a hand upon him, he wasn't going to lay back and take it.

Ross ripped loose papers up, pulling pages from books before shredding those, too. He sprinkled it all onto Sam, sneering. He didn't even seem to notice the anger that was burning in Sam's eyes.

"Good luck getting everything done again, Winchester."

And with that, Ross was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I'm sorry I was late with this one – there were a few problems while writing it. If there is anything anyone wants to see, then let me know. I'll dedicate this chapter to my friend for beta'ing it, and as a gift for today – yeah, you know what I'm talking about :)**

Sam was glad when school finished for the day. He hurried out of his classroom and to his locker, desperate to grab his books before Ross found him. He was glad that he hadn't been found by the time he exited the building for good.

"Where are you, Dean…?" Sam looked around quickly for the car.

Sam was relieved to find that the Impala had been parked underneath a tree, and he ran as quickly as he could. He pulled the front door open and dived into the front seat.

Dean bit his lip as he watched his little brother clutch his bag to his chest. He hated seeing Sam like this, but he also hated chick flick moments…

"How was school, Sam?" Dean tried – even if he wasn't too sure of what he wanted to achieve by asking that question. "Do I need to bash heads in, today?"

Sam shook his head, staring out of the window. His eyes didn't seem to focus on anything in particular as they scanned the outside area closely. "No… Just… Take me home, okay?"

Dean nodded and started the Impala. "Right'o, Sammy."

**-XX-**

The car-ride back to the motel was silent. Dean just didn't know what to do. He didn't know why Sam wasn't telling him anything, but he did know that his brother was capable of kicking anyone's asses if they tried to start a fight – so what was the problem? Was Sam taking someone's shit?

"You know, Sammy, if anyone is giving you a hard time –" Sam was quick to cut him off.

"Dean, can't you just leave me alone?" Sam spoke so quietly it was barely above a whisper. "I don't want to talk about it…"

Dean grabbed Sam's shoulder and squeezed. "Sam, I'm serious here – if someone is picking on you -!"

"I can take care of myself, Dean!" Sam cried. "I'm a Hunter! I can! Just leave me alone!"

Dean sighed. Before he could do much more, Sam ripped himself from Dean's grip and stormed into the bathroom. Dean heard the door slam and suspected that Sam had locked it.

"Godamnit it, why does he have to be so stubborn…?" Dean muttered to himself as he sat down on the bed and turned the TV on. For now, he would leave Sam alone so that he could cool down.

**-XX-**

By the time Sam had left the bathroom hours later, the pizza had already been delivered to the hotel and left on the table. He noticed Dean sitting on one of the beds, watching the TV. He walked quietly over to his brother and sat beside him.

"Hey…" Sam said in a tone barely above a whisper.

"Hey…" Dean greeted back, moving over to make room for the younger.

Sam glanced at the TV screen. "…What are we watching…?"

"Godzilla." Dean glanced briefly at his brother. He was relieved to see that Sam had, at least, not been crying since a while ago.

"Remake?" Sam smiled.

Dean chuckled and ruffled Sam's hair. "No, Sammy – the original!"

Sam pouted but didn't say anything.

Things were quiet between them for the duration of the movie. When the credits began rolling, Dean glanced back at his brother. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Sammy, you know that if anything is ever bothering you, you can talk to me about it…"

Sam frowned, but he nodded anyway. "…I know… Thanks…"

Dean noticed the way Sam's eyes began shining with unshed tears. He grimaced. "Don't start getting all chick-flicky with me, Sammy."

Sam choked on a laugh as he wiped hastily at his eyes. He shook his head. "I-I'm not… I'm going to have some pizza now and then go to bed…"

Dean nodded. "Okay. Night, Sammy."

"Night."

Sam got off the bed. He walked to the table and grabbed a few slices of pizza. They were cold, but he didn't care. The young Winchester found himself in bed just ten minutes later, already half-asleep. The last thing he thought about was hoping that tomorrow would go better than today had.

**-XX-**

"Hey, Winchester!"

Sam ignored Ross's voice as he hurried to his locker. He hoped that if he ignored the older boy for long enough, Ross would leave. He knew that he could go and find his brother if he so desired and stay with him, but he didn't want to see himself as weaker than he already did. Besides – Dean didn't need him hanging around and being a burden.

"I'm talking to you, wimp!" Ross called. He chased after the brown-haired boy. "What, are you gonna try and ignore me again?"

Sam flinched as the elder's voice rang in his ears. He hunched his shoulders and lowered his gaze. He was aware of Ross yelling and stomping around, but he didn't dare make eye-contact. He didn't understand what was wrong with him – he was _Hunter _and yet, he was piss-scared of some scummy little kid!

"I hate you!"

Sam glanced up just in time to see Ross storm away, shouting at nothing in particular. He let out a sigh of relief and continued onto his destination. After placing his belongings in his locker, the bell had rung.

The teacher was early as usual, so Sam didn't have to wait around outside the room for her to show up. He went straight in and took his usual seat at the back of the room, hoping that none of Ross's friends would notice him.

Sam's prayers seemed to have been answered today – he received no grief from anyone during homeroom, and the rest of the day passed by without a problem. He hadn't seen Ross again, and seeing Dean happy because _he _was happy made everything better.

"So, I take it that you kicked their ass?" Dean grinned as he backed the Impala out of the park.

Sam chuckled and shook his head. "No, I just had a good day today."

"Well, you know what will make it even better?"

"What?"

"I rented the remake of Godzilla – just for you. I was sure it would cheer you up if today was still crappy."

Sam grinned back. "Thanks, Dean – you're the best big brother ever!"

"I know I am." Dean smiled.

Sam turned to look out of the window at the passing scenery. He wasn't sure what had happened today, but he was just glad that it was good. It showed just how much Dean cared – and that was _a lot, _even if he didn't show it very well.


	3. Chapter 3

**It's been a long time since I've worked on this due to personal issues, and I somehow lost the plan I had for it. I can't remember what I had planned, so unless someone has an idea of what they want to see, I'm going to end this one here.**

Sam felt slightly better about going back to school today. He had spent the night in his brother's lap, curled up and fast asleep. It wasn't every day that he got to do things like that with his brother due to who they were, but whenever the opportunity would arise, Sam grasped it and cherished every second.

The Winchester was in such a good mood, he didn't even see Ross until he walked straight into his bully. Looking up, the brunet found himself standing face-to-face with the black-haired boy. If his eyes weren't as sharp as they were, he may have missed the four other boys standing at a distance behind Ross, smirks on their faces as if they knew something Sam didn't.

"What do you want?" Sam made himself sound as threatening as he could manage, knowing that he needed to be on his guard; he wouldn't put it past Ross to have gathered all of these kids together to try and attack him.

The only problem with this was that Sam wasn't sure if he could take them all on by himself. What if he couldn't? What if he were too weak to defend himself against so many others? It was true that he was a Hunter, but he was still young and had never been so outnumbered before.

Ross didn't reply to this; he instead raised his hand and threw a well aimed punch at the smaller boy. Sam ducked out of the way and instinctively moved forward with his own fists clenched, but two of the other boys came at him from both sides, grabbing him and holding him still. He wasn't experienced enough in fighting to take them all on and he _knew _that.

"Let me go!" Sam snapped, trying to break free of the boys' holds. The imminent threat in his voice went unacknowledged as he was dragged into the boy's bathroom, a hand over his mouth to muffle his voice.

The brunet bit at the hand, rewarded with a loud yelp, but almost instantly a painful punch connected with the side of his face, leaving a dull ache in his cheek bone. He was thrown onto the tiled bathroom floor, surrounded on all sides by the boys who looked like they had just seen their first meal in weeks.

"Stop this," Sam said, hoping he would be able to diffuse the situation through talking; it was clear violence wouldn't get him anywhere today. "You're making a big mistake. If someone came in here and -!"

Before Winchester could even finish his sentence, a kick to his stomach knocked all of the air out of him, leaving him breathless.

Ross sneered as he replied. "Two of the boys are standing guard outside as we speak." Leaning down, he grabbed a lock of brunet hair and pulled as hard as he could, laughing as his victim bit his lip.

Sam's first instinct was to fight his way out of this, but where had that gotten him so far? Nowhere. Should he stay still and let the boys become bored? No; he wasn't going to be someone's punching bag if he could help it. All he could do was fight and hope for the best outcome.

Kicking out at Ross's legs, the bigger boy tumbled forward, knocking over one of the ones who had a hold on Sam. Winchester took advantage of the confusion, leaning up and punching the other teen holding him down in the stomach.

Clambering unsteadily to his feet, Sam stood his ground, knowing he could not leave the bathroom with the boys blocking it. He ducked a wide swing that was aimed at him before he elbowed a taller blond haired boy in the chest, knocking him over.

A smaller, heavier-built teen came from Sam's side and slammed him against one of the toilet stall doors before he shoved the boy onto the ground. Winchester lost his breath and, before he could regain his senses, a swift kick to the side of his head sent his whole world black long enough for him to be beaten senselessly and left on the floor, blood gushing from the wound in his head.

**_~~Dean~~_**

When Dean's phone rang, disturbing him from the movie he had been watching, he couldn't have been more relieved for taking the day off school than he was when he answered the call.

"Dean Winchester?"

"Yes."Dean put down the pie he had been eating in order to pay more attention to the phone call; it could have been an associate of his father's for all he knew. "Who is this?"

"I'm calling from your brother's school and I am sorry to inform you, but we cannot get into contact with your father and we need you to come in. Is that possible?"

Dean couldn't help but worry at these words; had something happened to Sam? Had Sam done something he shouldn't have? "...Yes. I'll be there soon."

The older Winchester didn't wait for a reply before he hung the phone up and headed out, terrified that something could be wrong with Sam.

**_~~Sam~~_**

Sam had never realised just how much he disliked sitting in the school sickbay, and he had a feeling it was because he felt like he were going to faint. He didn't remember much of what had happened for him to wind up here except that Ross and his flunkies had attacked him.

A teacher had apparently found the brunet unconscious in the bathroom, bleeding badly from his head. They had brought him here where his brother had been called and was now awaiting Dean to take him home.

_I can't believe I lost... _Sam thought to himself, a frown forming on his young face. _I'm a Hunter, and yet... Dean will surely think so little of me once he hears what happened... _

It was unusual for Sam to feel depressed, but now he was sadder than he had been in a while, fearful that he was about to lose all respect his older brother held for him. He didn't care what his father thought, used to the man's rough nature, but his brother meant everything to him and he would gladly lose his father's encouragement if he could only keep Dean's.

"Sammy?"

Sam looked up towards the door to sickbay, finding his brother standing there, his eyebrows creased as he bit his lip. He smiled weakly, trying to ignore the way his head throbbed as if it would explode, aware that he must look a mess; his lip was split, his right eye was black and he was holding a bloodied rag to his temple to stop the bleeding.

"Hey, Dean..." Sam said softly. "...It's... good to see you..."

Dean didn't reply to this; he instead rushed forward, engulfing his little brother in a hug. He felt a fear he had never felt before, the realisation that he could have lost Sam hitting him harder than anything had.

"Sammy, I..." Dean didn't know how to explain to the younger that he was horrified of losing him. All he knew was that he needed to protect Sam, never let anything hurt him again. "Sammy..."

"It's okay, Dean," Sam said, patting his brother's arm. "I'm alright. Really."

"Yes, but... I should have been able to protect you!"

"You weren't here," Sam tried to explain. "Don't beat yourself up over something you had no control over."

Dean knew the smaller boy was right, that he was being unreasonable blaming himself, so he did the first thing he could think of; promise Sam that he would never let him get hurt if he could stop it.

"Sammy, I swear on my life, I'll never let you get hurt as long as I can do something,"Dean vowed. "You have my word, Sammy. I... I will protect you as best I can."

"I know, Dean." Sam smiled, knowing his brother would keep his word.

It wasn't the first promise Dean had made, but it would be the one and only promise he would ever keep.


End file.
